Australian Professor Graeme Clark AC awarded the 2026 Queen Elizabeth Prize

• Founder of the multichannel cochlear implant honoured in London with the 2026 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (QEPrize), which this year celebrates pioneering achievements in neuroengineering
• Cochlear celebrates global recognition of Professor Graeme Clark AC and other engineering pioneers that have changed the lives of millions¹
• Today, more than 750,000 people across over 180 countries hear with one – or two – of Cochlear’s implantable hearing solutions

[Lone Tree, Colo] – February 4th 2026: Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH), the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, today congratulates Professor Graeme Clark AC, the pioneering Australian scientist and University of Melbourne Laureate Professor whose vision and persistence led to the development of the multichannel cochlear implant, on being named one of the recipients of the 2026 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (QEPrize) – described by some as the Nobel Prize of engineering.²

Professor Clark is recognised alongside eight fellow laureates for their collective contributions to modern neural interface technologies. The laureates were formally announced by Lord Vallance, Chair of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation, at the Science Museum in London this week and will share the £500,000 prize. The breakthroughs acknowledged this year span cochlear implants, deep brain stimulation, brain-computer interfaces and electronic spinal stimulation, advancing the restoration of hearing, movement and communication for people around the world.

Dig Howitt, Cochlear CEO & President, congratulates Professor Clark on the accolade: “Professor Clark’s vision transformed what was once considered impossible into a life‑changing reality for people around the world. His pioneering work not only laid the foundations for Cochlear as a company, but opened the door for millions to experience sound, connection, and opportunity. We congratulate Professor Clark and celebrate his extraordinary contribution to engineering, healthcare, and humanity. We also congratulate the other laureates whose breakthroughs continue to push the boundaries of what neural interface technologies can achieve.”

Professor Clark, who is in London this week to receive the award, comments: “My work in auditory brain science began with the aim of restoring hearing for people with severe deafness, inspired in part by my own family’s experience. Over time, this research showed that multi‑channel stimulation of the auditory nerve could restore elements of hearing, opening the door to an entirely new field of medical engineering. I am honoured to be recognised alongside my colleagues by the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, and proud to see how this field has grown to help people with a wide range of neurological conditions.”

Professor Clark was the lead researcher of the team that created the world’s first multichannel implant. His device was developed by Cochlear to become the first that was approved for use outside of clinical research.³ Professor Clark’s leadership laid the scientific and engineering foundations for what is today a global standard of care for people with severe to profound hearing loss. More than one million people worldwide now use cochlear implants,⁴ an extraordinary legacy that began with Professor Clark’s determination to help those with severe deafness, inspired by his family’s own experience of hearing loss.

Cochlear’s technology continues to advance, highlighted by last year’s launch of the Cochlear™ Nucleus® Nexa™ System – the world’s first and only smart cochlear implant system. Its intelligence is enabled by the implant’s programmable microprocessor, internal memory and upgradeable firmware.

This year’s QEPrize also honours Erwin Hochmair, Ingeborg Hochmair and Blake Wilson for foundational advances that helped develop cochlear implants into reliable, widely adopted clinical technologies; John Donoghue for pioneering brain-computer interfaces to restore movement and communication; Alim Louis Benabid and Pierre Pollak for modern deep brain stimulation to treat movement disorders; and Jocelyne Bloch and Grégoire Courtine for electronic spinal stimulation enabling people with spinal cord injuries to regain voluntary movement. Together, these achievements define a new frontier in neuroprosthetics.

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About Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH)

People have always been Cochlear’s inspiration, ever since Professor Graeme Clark set out to create the first multi-channel cochlear implant after seeing his father struggle with hearing loss. Since 1981, Cochlear has helped more than 750,000 people of all ages in more than 180 countries to hear. As the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, Cochlear connects people with life’s opportunities, and welcomes them to the world’s largest hearing implant community.

Cochlear has a global workforce of more than 5,500 people, with a passion for progress, who strive to meet the needs of people living with hearing loss. The company continually innovates to anticipate future needs, investing more than AUD$3 billion to date in research and development to push the boundaries of technology and help more people hear.
www.cochlear.com

About the QEPrize

Awarded annually, the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (QEPrize) champions bold, groundbreaking engineering innovation which is of global benefit to humanity. The prize celebrates engineering’s visionaries, inspiring young minds to consider engineering as a career choice and to help to solve the challenges of the future. The prize also encourages engineers to help extend the boundaries of what is possible across all disciplines and applications.

About Professor Graeme Clark AC

Professor Graeme Clark AC is an Australian surgeon‑scientist whose pioneering research led to the invention of the multichannel cochlear implant, the first device to restore useful hearing to people with severe-to-profound deafness. He is a University of Melbourne Laureate Professor, with much of his groundbreaking research undertaken at the University.

Born in Camden, New South Wales in 1935, he was inspired by his father’s struggle with hearing loss and went on to specialise in otolaryngology before completing a PhD in auditory science.

Professor Clark’s groundbreaking achievements have been recognised with some of the world’s most prestigious honours, including Australia’s highest civilian distinction, the Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) and the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, one of the most renowned international prizes in biomedicine. He has also received Germany’s Zülch Prize for neuroscience and the Lister Medal, regarded as the leading global award in surgical science-affirming the profound impact of his pioneering work on hearing science and medical engineering.